Night had fallen over Aarush like a heavy shroud.

  The streets were sunk in an unnatural silence, broken only by the echo of footsteps and the hum of flickering streetlights.

  Nicco's car moved slowly, as if it didn't know where it was going. No one spoke. They couldn't. The windshield was covered with thick fog seeping in from the darkest corners of the city.

  And then they saw it.

  First, a body beside a lamppost. Then, another one hanging from a ledge, as if it had tried to escape but its mutation hadn't allowed it.

  Creatures.

  Remains.

  Aiden's experiments, disfigured, still with open eyes, collapsing like broken dolls as the bond with their creator finally unraveled.

  "Shit..." Dahlia whispered from the back seat, her voice trembling.

  Kali said nothing. She just gripped the seat's edge, her nails digging into the fabric. Her face was drenched in sweat, dried blood, and tears that hadn't yet fallen.

  Nicco slammed the brakes when he saw a childlike creature lying in the middle of the intersection.

  "I can't anymore," he murmured.

  "Don't get out," Dahlia said quickly. "It's already dead. They all are."

  Nicco gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He bowed his head. And for the first time since she'd known him, Kali saw him at the edge.

  "She was our friend," he said, barely audible. "We used to laugh together. Viki was that laughter. That fucking light when everything was gray. And now... there's nothing left of her. Just... foam."

  Kali turned to him, eyes burning. She looked at him for a long time, and then said:

  "First Ethan. Then the boy from the lounge. Now Viki. What the hell is this, Nicco? A damn cemetery wherever we go?"

  "It's not your fault," said Dahlia from the back, but her voice was lost.

  Kali brought her hands to her face. The tremor she'd been holding in since the lab exploded through her arms.

  "I brought her into this shit. I dragged her with me," she muttered through clenched teeth, and finally, the tears came. "I didn't want another death. Not another."

  Nicco turned to her. His hand trembled as he placed it on her leg.

  "Hey. Kali. No. This wasn't you. It was him. Aiden. Not you."

  "And what does it matter now? Huh? What's left for us?"

  Her voice was torn. Broken. Like she was speaking from a deep fracture.

  "We have what we've always had," Nicco said, his hand still on her leg. "You and me. Even if everything falls apart, even if everything dies. You and me."

  They looked at each other. And something in that shared glance held them, for just a second.

  But the pain didn't go away. It just breathed with them.

  10:07 p.m. – Shared Apartment

  When they arrived at the girls' apartment, silence settled like an uninvited guest. Dahlia opened the door with shaking hands. The lights inside seemed dimmer than ever.

  "Come in. Make yourselves comfortable. If that's still a thing."

  Nicco collapsed on the couch, not even bothering to take off his soaked jacket. Kali went straight to the bathroom. She didn't want to talk. Just close the door. Just cry, scream, hit the walls where no one could hear.

  Dahlia stayed in the kitchen, staring at the empty mug she had left that very morning. Everything felt like it belonged to another world now. Another time. When Viki still existed.

  Minutes passed. Absolute silence.

  Then, Dahlia approached Nicco with a blanket. She draped it over his shoulders without saying a word. He looked at her with lost eyes.

  "Are you staying?" he asked, barely a whisper.

  "Of course," she replied, sitting next to him. "I'm not good at this. But I'm not leaving."

  "You don't need to talk," he said.

  "I know."

  And in that living room, where the air smelled of wet clothes and dry fear, the three friends breathed the weight of loss in unison.

  Kali came out of the bathroom after a long while. Her eyes were red, makeup smeared, her shirt clinging to her body. She approached silently. Sat between Nicco and Dahlia. Said nothing. Just rested her head on Nicco's shoulder.

  He took her hand.

  No one was going to save them from that night. But at least... they weren't alone.

  The TV turned on with a dry click. No one asked it to. No one had the strength to stop Dahlia as she picked up the remote with trembling hands, looking for a distraction.

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  And then, the news filled the room with its neutral voice, indifferent to their pain.

  "Breaking news: authorities confirm a wave of unidentified mass deaths across various sectors of Aarush. The bodies, with severe mutations and signs of rapid decomposition, have been found in industrial areas, alleys, and parks. Causes are still under investigation..."

  Aerial images filled the screen.

  A fog-covered park.

  A plaza with bodies in impossible positions.

  An alley with dark puddles and human-shaped forms that no longer were.

  Kali covered her mouth with her hand. Nicco shut his eyes tightly. Dahlia... kept watching. She didn't blink.

  And then.

  The camera zoomed in.

  A face.

  Among deformed bodies.

  Among all of them, one unmutated. One human. Just one.

  Tobias.

  His usual jacket. His pink crown hanging from a finger. A wound on his neck. His eyes open, lifeless, as if still waiting for an answer that never came.

  Dahlia didn't scream. Didn't break anything.

  She just let the mug slip from her hands. The sound of ceramic hitting the floor was dry. Painful. More real than the image on the screen.

  "Tobias..." she whispered.

  Kali lifted her head. Looked at the screen. Covered her eyes.

  Nicco hit the table with his fist. Hard. But even that didn't pull him out of the place they had just been dragged into.

  "No... not him too..." Dahlia said, stepping back. "Not him..."

  Kali stood and hugged her. Said nothing. Just held her.

  And then, the three of them collapsed together.

  There were no more jokes. No sarcasm. No words to soothe the pain. Just tears. Deep. Exhausted. The kind that has no strength but doesn't stop.

  They cried until there were no more tears.

  They cried until silence returned like an invisible gravestone in the room.

  Hours later — past midnight

  Kali and Nicco had fallen asleep. Exhausted. Their bodies entangled, trembling even in rest, as if the pain breathed with them.

  Dahlia, however, didn't sleep.

  She rose quietly, moved through the room like a ghost, and opened the balcony door.

  The city slept. But it wasn't peace. It was emptiness. A hollow.

  She lit a cigarette but didn't bring it to her lips. In her other hand, she held something else.

  A pill. Small. White. Lethal in the right amount. Stolen. Borrowed. It didn't matter.

  She held it between her fingers like it weighed a ton. Her gaze was lost, fixed on the darkness beyond the buildings.

  The breeze moved her hair. Her breathing was as shallow as the thin thread of hope still left in her.

  A joint wasn't enough anymore.

  The pain was stronger. The image of Tobias, of Viki, of the bodies on the street... too vivid.

  She needed to shut her body down. Silence her mind. Rest for just one night.

  She brought the pill to her lips.

  Held it there.

  And with her eyes closed, stayed still. Between the desire to leave... and the guilt of leaving the other two alone.

  The city remained silent.

  Morning

  The sun crept timidly through the blinds, but it brought no relief. It brought nothing.

  Kali opened her eyes first. She was still curled up next to Nicco on the sofa, the blanket clinging to her like a second, useless layer of protection. Her body was stiff, her muscles like cold cement. And a second after taking a breath... she remembered.

  The tank.

  The collapse.

  Viki.

  Tobias.

  The TV.

  The crying.

  The emptiness.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to be awake. She didn't want to be. Period.

  Beside her, Nicco stirred. Woke as if pulled halfway from a dream. He muttered something incomprehensible, and his first reaction was to reach for Kali's hand. He found it.

  Her fingers were cold. So were his.

  They didn't speak. They didn't need to. The silence between them said more than words. Just one voiceless question echoed in their gaze:

  How do we go on?

  They slowly sat up on the sofa. The living room looked like a frozen scene. Empty mugs. Wrinkled blankets. The remote on the floor. And that heavy energy that won't go away even with incense.

  That's when they noticed the smell of coffee.

  They staggered to their feet. Walked as if their bones were made of ash. When they reached the kitchen, they saw her.

  Dahlia.

  Standing next to the coffee maker, staring at the rising steam. She wore an old T-shirt, her hair messily tied back. Her skin was paler than usual, and her eyes, though open, weren't present.

  "Good morning," she said in a flat, almost robotic voice. "The coffee's almost ready."

  Kali tilted her head, worried.

  "Are you... okay?"

  Dahlia turned. Smiled. But it was a surface smile, the kind that never reaches the eyes.

  "As okay as one can be, given the circumstances."

  Kali approached slowly. Took a mug and poured herself some coffee. Her hand trembled. When she brought it to her lips, the bitter taste burned her throat, but she welcomed the burn. At least she felt something. Even if it was pain.

  Dahlia leaned against the counter. Stared at the mug in her hands like it was a fragment from another life.

  Nicco crossed his arms. The knot in his throat grew.

  Kali set her mug down hard. Not in anger. In helplessness.

  "I can't do this anymore," she whispered.

  "Me neither," Nicco added, sitting at the table. "Yesterday was too much. This city... this. Everything."

  "We're not okay," Dahlia said, her voice flat, as if reading a script. "And that's okay."

  "Yeah? That's okay?" Kali gave a bitter laugh. "To be at the edge and pretend we can handle it?"

  "No. But it's what we've got," Dahlia replied, locking eyes with her. "We have no plan. No answers. Just this: coffee, tired bodies, and a silence that won't leave. But we have to keep going."

  Her voice wasn't loud or dramatic. It was a straight line. Dry. But sharp.

  Kali slowly lifted her gaze. Her dark circles looked like they had aged years overnight.

  "Can you?" she asked. Not mocking. Just honest sadness.

  Dahlia took a deep breath. Pressed her lips together. And nodded.

  "Yes," she said.

  And lied.

  She did it calmly, so well that neither of them dared question it. Her voice didn't shake. Her posture was firm. It was a lie refined by time, one she'd learned to use to protect others. A mask so well worn that even she believed it sometimes.

  Because she hadn't moved on.

  Because Tobias, Viki, Jake, the bodies... were still there in her mind.

  Because sleeping was a sentence. And being awake, another.

  But she looked at them like she truly could hold them up.

  And that was enough.

  Nicco watched her, exhausted, with a mix of admiration and doubt in his eyes.

  "I want to believe that. I really do. But right now... I can't deal with this city. With its symbols. With its shadows. With its dead."

  Kali stood too. Her voice low, broken.

  "Maybe we don't have to. Not today."

  Dahlia looked at them, her eyes like mirrors with no reflection.

  "What do you mean?"

  "A break," Nicco said. "A day. Two. Whatever we can. Just... silence. Breathing. Being together. But no searching. No fighting. No deciding."

  "A pause," Kali added. "Just to... feel human again."

  Dahlia nodded slowly.

  "Okay."

  And lied again.

  Not because she wanted to deceive them. But because she knew they needed it. Because it wasn't her turn to fall. Because someone had to hold the space while the other two learned to breathe again.

  She would fake it as long as necessary.

  As long as it took for Nicco and Kali to handle it on their own.

  During the entire conversation, Nicco kept hearing whispers.

  "...Kali..."

  "...Dahlia..."

  A male voice. Low. As if it knew it had to enter through his ear like a secret. Nicco frowned and, when the conversation ended, he slowly got to his feet. Barefoot, he walked to the door. And without much thought... he opened it.

  And in that moment...

  There was something the girls had forgotten to explain properly to Nicco:

  "If someone calls your name and you're not expecting anyone, don't open. Even if they sound familiar."